Ivanka Trump's 'Best Life' Required Putting Politics 'Totally in the Rearview': 'She Had Enough' (Exclusive)

Sources tell PEOPLE that whether Donald Trump wins or loses the presidency in November, Ivanka's flourishing life in Miami will stay the same

Ivanka Trump waves as she arrives at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland for US President Donald Trump's departure on January 20, 2021.
Ivanka Trump waves from Joint Base Andrews on the last day of Donald Trump's presidency. Photo:

ALEX EDELMAN/AFP via Getty

Ivanka Trump's father is now the presumptive Republican nominee for president, but don't expect to see her hitting the 2024 campaign trail.

As a source in Ivanka's social circle tells PEOPLE, the former first daughter is standing behind her previous commitment to step back from politics despite Donald Trump's return to the spotlight.

"She is very happy, living her best life," the source says. "She left politics totally in the rearview mirror and so this time around, even if her dad is the leading Republican candidate, she basically doesn't care. She told him when he said he was going to run again that she didn't want to be involved."

Ivanka, 42, and her husband, Jared Kushner, served as senior advisers to President Trump during his term in office from January 2017 to 2021. But shortly after he announced his 2024 campaign, Ivanka said publicly that she planned to stay out of politics "moving forward."

"I love my father very much," she said in a statement issued moments after her father announced his campaign. "This time around, I am choosing to prioritize my young children and the private life we are creating as a family."

Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner with their kids, Arabella, Jospeh, and Theodore on the beach in 2023.
Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner with their kids, Arabella, Joseph and Theodore, on the beach in 2023.

Ivanka Trump Instagram

So far, she's kept that promise, focusing instead on the community she's built in Miami, where she is often photographed with her husband and children — Arabella, Joseph and Theodore — or attending dinners with friends and working out at area gyms.

She and her family also volunteer with local organizations during their free time, including a Miami food bank and a nonprofit that builds programs for children with special needs.

And between her work and parenting duties, Ivanka's had more opportunity to travel, posting photos from star-studded events and international vacations with family at her side.

Her day-to-day is a far cry from the 2016 election and ensuing Trump presidency, when Ivanka was very involved and often on-hand at rallies and campaign appearances.

"The first election, she wanted to support him," the source says, adding: "She wanted to be a good daughter. She served his administration for four years, but she had enough. She doesn't want to do it anymore."

According to the source, Ivanka now just "wants to be normal" and continue "having fun as a family."

"She wants to think about nothing but her family, and what they're doing, and she wants to enjoy her life," the source adds.

Ivanka Trump kids
Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump with their three children.

Ivanka Trump/Instagram

As for whether Ivanka will ever make her reentry into the political world? That's unlikely.

"She's never going to be in politics again," the source says. "It's a hard position for her: she doesn't agree with everything [President Trump] says, but she doesn't want to publicly disagree with him, so she just wants to stay out of it at this stage."

During her time in the White House, Ivanka told CBS News' Gayle King that even while she's supported her father, she has never hesitated to share her honest thoughts with him directly. "Where I disagree with my father, he knows it, and I express myself with total candor,” she said in a 2017 interview.

Ivanka Trump (L), Adviser and daughter of President Donald Trump, and White House counselor Kellyanne Conway (R) attend an event highlighting the opioid crisis in the U.S. October 26, 2017 in the East Room of the White House in Washington, DC. President Donald Trump plans to authorize the Department of Health and Human Services to declare a nationwide public health emergency in an effort to reduce the number of opioid overdose deaths across the nation.
Ivanka Trump speaks to Kellyanne Conway at a 2017 event in the White House East Room. Alex Wong/Getty

As another social source tells PEOPLE, Ivanka is still close with her father, but makes an effort to distance herself from his campaign events, political affairs and myriad legal issues.

“Ivanka still sees her dad but definitely wants to separate herself from his scandals,” the source says. “Ivanka hasn’t attended a lot of public Trump events but she is also traveling around the world and hitting major social openings and galas that she likes people to know about.”

The source adds that one way the former first daughter justifies her distance from the campaign trail is by explaining to President Trump that she wants her children shielded from negativity and gossip.

“She still has a relationship with her father,” the source says. “She will always be a daddy’s girl. But she will also always protect herself and pick and choose the family gatherings she attends, like Melania does.”

Additional reporting by
Linda Marx

Linda Marx is a writer and reporter for PEOPLE in the areas of entertainment, politics, sports, fashion, travel, design, human interest, lifestyle and art. She has been writing about these topics for more than 20 years.

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